When I started doing semi-private lessons at Alta with friends, it was fascinating to observe the instructors work on stance with older adults who had not had a lesson since middle school. I'd started taking lessons regularly a few years before, so was ahead of them when it came to stance. Still needed more practice on easier terrain to really ingrain the feelings so that a proper athletic stance can feel natural on steeper and more complex terrain. For that sort of practice, mileage at bigger mountain helps since the groomers are way longer than the Mid-Atlantic. Took 2-3 seasons to get closer to not having to think about it all the time.
She's full of those! LOL! Love her!
Yes, absolutely. The lumbar and thoracic are the most confused two in exercise. Where there are excercises in yoga, pilates etc that are lying and static where the pelvis is tucked and the lumbar curve is flattened, it doesn't always apply to dynamic or loaded movements safely. These are good cues too.
No, I think you're correct. It sounds like you're describing a "hip hinge" commonly used when performing deadlifts, swings,etc. However, it's a basic human movement. When a baby learns to walk do they bend at the waist or tuck their bottoms? No, when they are squatting or picking something off the floor they hinge at the hips. No one taught them this, they earned these movements as part of their development in learning to walk.
Not complicated, but it DOES take practice to get the feeling into your body.
I'm so glad you chimed in as I was going to ask @Skisailor for a picture/video of her in the stance that is being discussed. I got completely confused....
@Ursula I'm SO glad to hear that, it was giving me fits! I'd love to see video. Thanks for your help!!
@Skisailor Thanks so much for that: your description is what I needed in order to understand the stick figures in Ursula's post. Now I see what I'm supposed to see and I can work on it. Yay!!
Hopefully we're close to some opening dates here; not likely this weekend, but possibly next. I can't wait to get to work!
Just curious - did you check out Ursula's posts in the thread I linked to above? I had been hoping you would get a good visual from those posts.
I agree - for me, the pelvic tuck thing never worked. That is just not a position my body can comfortably maintain for more than a minute or two - not helpful for me for a long ski day.
What you're supposed to be doing with your torso is matching the angle of your back to the angle of your shin by flexing at the hip. (The angle from knee to hip also matches but in the other direction). I practiced it by looking in a mirror. Whether I was short (deeply flexed), medium or tall, those angles must still match. All 3 joints must be flexed or extended proportionally. And all the while, your weight should be centered over the balls of your feet - just like when you're shooting a free throw. You can see what I mean in Ursula's stick figures. That's it!
Don't try to take this into steeper terrain until you have it nailed on easy green slopes.
That said - it falls apart in steeper terrain if you don't commit your body down the fall line enough. As the skis tilt down the slope, you must send your body down the fall line so that your body stays perpendicular to the skis. Otherwise you are instantly in the back seat.
